Rug Rat wrote to All <=-

2) Thats depends on your geography, in SoCal this is not the case
(Though one2 of the things I miss about SoCal, is the wide area
coverage repeaters 6 - 7k mountains will give you.). I will admit in
the Florida panhandle this is the case. I have had more QSOs either on SIMPLEX (My Echolink node via the EastCoast Reflector, or .520). It is what it is, though that just gives me more reason to get on HF.

When I travel north, back when we were using the truck that has the mobile
rig, I would hit Evansville and have traffic - then it would peter out -
then Bloomington and Indianapolis were ALWAYS hopping! So yeah, depends
on your location...

And yes to the HF statement... That's the main reason I am interested -
so that I can get our further!

Meanwhile, we spend more time arguing about Baofeng's and Digital modes than actually talking on the air ..

Where are we arguing, if it is on the air (especially your local repeater), that kind of negates your first argument. What are these arguments about?

I think the general statement is that 'old timers' complain about
Baofeng's. I used to geocache - a LOT - with my wife, kids and
some other friends. This was before smart phones, when you had to
use a handheld GPS, and we had programs to load the data from a
laptop. It was a VERY niche hobby.

Now with smartphones anyone and everyone can just open the app and
go right there - then log it from the app, etc.

Now don't get me wrong - I'm not saying it's BAD that it's more
accesible to the general public! I think that's great! But to
'old timers' like me, some of the charm is gone.

Equating that to the B'fang discussion though, some people say
that's not REAL ham radio... Personally, I don't hear that
around here, but there might be people actually saying it.

That doesn't make
it legal, and people should definately not be encouraging new hams to
do this. If you have a GMRS license, great, just don't use amateur
gear to use it.

Yep - and 'kids' getting radios from Amazon and using them on the
amateur bands without a license. Yes, it's bad - yes, it's illegal.
But the answer is not to slap their hand, but to hold it and guide
them on the proper use. GENTLY. I think the OP is talking about
the general attitude (salute) of SOME people that say 'get out of
my yard and off my band.'

So get on another net. The East Coast Reflector runs some great nets, such as the Morning Brew, Tech Net, Youth Net (Which is a great way to promote amateur radio to young people). Get your younger family
members involved. 3rd party traffic is not only allowed but ENCOURAGED (Which will make this post entirely superfluous.), and my favorite
Trivia Net. Ham radio has always been what YOU make of it.

I need to look into those... I don't have anything digital nor HF
though, but I have used echonet before...

In any facet of
life you will have people who will brush you off, if someone at a club meeting or convention gives you the cold shoulder, likes Kenwood Vs. Yaesu, or tells you that you are not a real ham because you have a BatFang, go find someone who does.

Agreed! I play music and used to jam a LOT in the local bluegrass
'club.' I have a 1969 Yamaha that is a copy of a D-18 Martin. It
is LOUD as a CANNON! I get a kick out of people that compliment
the guitar and the sound and then they look at the headstock and
see it's NOT a Martin and their countenance changes. They suddenly
dismiss it cause it's not a REAL guitar. LOL I want to ask, "why
don't you like it now that you know the brand?" LOL

I however cringe going to the fair, and hearing someone trying to
entice people to get into the hobby by saying, "Do you have a cell
phone? You have a radio right in your pocket..". If I had no interest
in the hobby, or know nothing about ham radio. Telling me I already
have something that will do what you are trying to demonstrate. I will most likely stop listening as I already have it, and it has more
features than what you are trying to sell me. Again, I applaud the
effort, and it would take a lot to get me to take their place, but UGGGH...

Yep! If someone has no interest, they have no interest. I have no interest
in contesting, but I'll be happy to answer POTA CQ's once I get an HF
rig, because I like to TALK TO PEOPLE. :-) Heck - it's what got me
into BBS's years ago - the nets!


... Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?
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Jimmy, I didn't want to include a lenghty quote of your and Rug Rat discussion. Just want to add a bit to it
You said you will answer some Contest calls.
That made me recall one time I heard a DX station calling CQ.
I called him thinking I would get a QSO with the station.
The return call I heard was very short , something like TNX QSO PSE QSL .
There was a pause then the station began calling CQ again.

I ain't a DX'er or Contester.
Actually haven't been on HF since XYL didn't like thise ugly wires coming out of a room and going into the fold down attic stairs.
But I do try to be a good LID.
73 to You and Rug Rat de Ed W9ODR . .
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Rug Rat wrote to Jimmy Anderson <=-

On Thu 6-Nov-2025 6:32a, Jimmy Anderson@1:105/7.0 said to Rug Rat:

Yep! If someone has no interest, they have no interest. I have no interest in contesting, but I'll be happy to answer POTA CQ's once I get an HF
rig, because I like to TALK TO PEOPLE. :-) Heck - it's what got me
into BBS's years ago - the nets!

You might be a bit disapointed then with POTA, as the majority of the contacts with POTA operators are very contestest like, in that they are out there to make as many contacts as possible within the time of their activation. At the same time there are a lot of people waiting to make contact with them. Very rarely will they take the time to "TALK TO YOU"... It is exchange contact information, and off to the next
station. The majority of DX is like that is well. That is not to say
I have not had longer QSO with either, but it is not the norm.

No I understand that, but I mean even a quick contact with a POTA activator will be a cool thing for me. :-) Will be a way to test and make sure I'm getting out there too - then I can worry about finding a rag chew. :-)

BTW - got my HF out of the shed and powered it up last night... From what
I said to Daryl in another echonet...

A fellow ham 'handed down' a Kenwood TS-140S, MFJ-941E tuner and a
homemade fan dipole! I powered up the radio last night just to
confirm it works - but no transmit, as antenna not up yet.

I don't really have room for the longest parts of it, but for now
I'm going to make an inverted V on my tower and use at least the
10 meter part... Get my feet wet, so to speak, and if everything
works okay I'll get another power supply to run it as well for
more power and I'll invest in an antenna I can mount without taking
up 100' of yard space. :-)




... Save the whales! Collect the whole set!
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Ed Vance wrote to jimmy anderson <=-

Jimmy, I didn't want to include a lenghty quote of your and Rug Rat discussion. Just want to add a bit to it

Understood. :-)

You said you will answer some Contest calls.

Yeah - not planning to do contesting for me, but will answer
as opposed to silence on the bands. :-)

That made me recall one time I heard a DX station calling CQ.
I called him thinking I would get a QSO with the station.
The return call I heard was very short , something like TNX QSO PSE QSL
. There was a pause then the station began calling CQ again.

LOL

I ain't a DX'er or Contester.
Actually haven't been on HF since XYL didn't like thise ugly wires
coming out of a room and going into the fold down attic stairs.

Yeah... My wife doesn't mind, but *I* don't want 100+ feet of wire
across the yard - LOL




... Shell to DOS... Come in DOS... Do you copy DOS?... Over...
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Sean Dennis wrote to Rug Rat <=-

Rug Rat wrote to Jimmy Anderson <=-

I have an ICOM IC-706MKII and a BuddiPole tat I may connect to my
mobility scooter as it has two 12 volt, 60 amp batteries I could tap
into to run a low-power mobile station I can use to activate a few
parks here in town once spring comes.

In the back burner of my brain, where sits a LOT of things "I wouldn't
mind doing eventually..." sits the idea of a go-box. I've actually
thought about a go box with HF for the purpose of POTA at some
point...

I know it's 'contesting' but the idea of doing a portable station
sounds intriguing...

Back to the original point, yeah, you'd have better luck with a ragchew
by just calling CQ.

I plan to do that too... :-)



... Gone crazy, be back later, please leave message.
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Rug Rat wrote to Jason Brady <=-

They are out there (Just like there are stations that will try to stop
and rag chew during a contest..).. It is just not the norm. I give warning because you hear people all the time how they were put off from ham radio after getting their license and feeling that nobody really wanted to talk to them.

My response to that may sound a bit odd, but I feel that those people
just toss away the hobby because it was not what they expected, are the ones that either got into it for the prepper aspect or like the example above not only believed the marketing but like all endevors had a
starry eyed vision that they where going to get their ticket and
everyone on on the air would want to talk to them for hours on end and instead of taking the time to find their niche either found the "sad
ham theory promoting YouTube channels" and to save themselves the
bruised ego belived the probelm is "those old timers.." or put their license aside..

Same with local repeaters on 2m/440. There are more repeaters than
there are people on the air. :-) But I've learned that a lot of them
are on HF, which I'm working toward getting set up.

But yeah - I'll put the radio on scan when I'm in the truck and a
lot of time it's dead. I'll call out, but sometimes I'm listening
to a podcast and don't take time to call, but will listen and/or
answer when someone does. :-)





... Insurance guy to Adam & Eve: I see you're not covered...
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